Marky Ramone (Ramones)
INTERVIEW WITH MARKY RAMONE on Hot Sticks Drum Show, transcript below.
Plus, see more about Marky Ramone on the “Adventures of Power” Official Site.
Ari Gold
Hi,
Marky Ramone
we got it. How are you?
Ari Gold
I'm good. I'm I'm in Berlin. Berlin.
Marky Ramone
Did you go to the church?
Ari Gold
Which church?
Marky Ramone
Well at the bullets, that the bullet holes they left in that huge structure? It looks like it was it was bombarded.
Ari Gold
Yes, yes, I have been to that before but not this not this trip. I was in this train. So it's amazing. I have you no more recent.
Marky Ramone
It's crazy, right that?
Ari Gold
Well, I mean, Ukraine is, I was in the Vive, which is, you know, a fairly, fairly peaceful in the sense that they haven't had a lot of violence there. But there was an air raid, and there was a missile strike right after I left, so it's intense. It's really intense.
Marky Ramone
So it'll land. So
Ari Gold
unfortunately, I think the Russian side doesn't want to quit under any circumstance.
Marky Ramone
So it has a lot to do with pride. And yeah, to do with losing face. You know, it's just that he's a dictator. So he will he at any cost? He will continue.
Ari Gold
Yeah. Yeah. So it's, it's tough. I mean, you know, I actually, the one of the things that I filmed when I was in Ukraine was the, the loveth Symphony Orchestra, which has become a eight center. So I watched the orchestra and was all the second string musicians because I guess the first string dudes who are carrying guns instead of islands right now. And they were playing Mozart's Requiem for an auditorium filled with boxes, that were all going to the front. And so they had a Ukrainian Orthodox priests, blessing, the medical supplies, and this second symphony orchestra is playing for this empty auditorium playing the Requiem. And it was such a powerful thing we just stumbled in, we were going to interview the orchestra director. And she said, Oh, well, the rehearsing right now. And we walk in, and it's this incredible music. And, and, and that's it was sort of like the the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I mean, just piles and piles and piles and piles of boxes. All going, I think, to the east, where, where there's a lot more trouble. So
Marky Ramone
America is standing up equipment.
Ari Gold
They're sending equipment and medical supplies. Yeah. So the orchestra is collecting medical supplies to send send out, right. Yeah,
Marky Ramone
the only you know, I mean, without without that, that being a war in the world. I mean, why did that guy have to do that? You know what I mean? It's like, I know, he wants to expand his land. And
Ari Gold
yeah, I mean, that's the obvious reason to me, I have some Russian friends that I tried to get what the take is over there and try to understand what the propaganda is saying. And, yeah, I didn't know if we want to keep talking about Ukraine. I mean, it's inspiring.
Marky Ramone
It is a subject that people who don't know don't care should know about. So let's move on to Well,
Ari Gold
I have links on my, on my Instagram here, if anyone wants to donate, I have all kinds of links there. Helping people get their money in crypto, and you can send money and support you all the time. And, and soon I will have a link up for the live orchestra which is, you know, keeping musicians alive, keeping musicians employed, and sending medical supplies to the front. So it's it's pretty crazy, pretty crazy experience and a lot of friends from Ukraine, who are now in other places, Berlin. I just hung out with some last night. And some have gone to Paris and Warsaw
Marky Ramone
being accepted through all being accepted into the country. Yeah, actually
Ari Gold
what I heard last night, a friend who she and her parents got in the car within hours for the first missile strikes. And they were shocked because there was no cell phone service for the last two days. It was like a two day line to get out. And so they finally walked across the border, not knowing what the world's reaction was. And they saw the signs from people from different countries. He's basically saying, you know, if you want to come to Germany, come with me and I'll help you. You want to come to Poland come with me and I'll help you. You want to come to Romania? There are all these people who come to the border to volunteer and help out. And we're here. So,
Marky Ramone
all right, well, let's get let's go on the next topic.
Ari Gold
Yeah, I mean, it'll maybe it'll keep coming up but well, so Marky and I I'm a filmmaker and musician once in a while Mark and I met because my, my band which doesn't exist anymore, called the honey brothers with Adrian Grenier was playing the drums for us. And I guess he knew us somehow. But we ended up a lot of fun. We played a show with you and I got to play a couple remote. I think, three Ramones songs, I got to play you with you playing drums and we played with songs that were but three of them. I know blitzkrieg bop was one and I want to be sedated was one and can't remember what the other one was. But so I learned them off on ukulele, electric ukulele. And you kicked Adrian off the drums and took your proper seat. And we just I remember the feeling was like, you know, I played a lot of music before. Playing those songs felt like being deposited onto a train that's already going 150 miles an hour, like you're standing still. And then just suddenly, it's like, you know, unbelievable. power and speed. And like it just it felt like I mean, my experience playing and I was like, Man, you wouldn't need drugs. If you're playing this music.
Marky Ramone
onslaught of energy and we I do that with my I play 45 songs like that throughout the world. So the Ramones did 33 But what it intended to be the sound was just just to be an onslaught of energy. That's really what the intention was in the beginning.
Ari Gold
Right? Well, music is in your blood. I mean, you I was amazed when I read your autobiography to find out that your was it your grandfather, who was cooking at the Copa?
Marky Ramone
Did I call around the 21? Club?
Ari Gold
Okay. I mean, that's amazing, you know, just the sense that you kind of inherited, maybe through him, I'm always fascinating. My films always have to do with like ancestry. And there's some like, you know, historical echo in someone's life. And the idea of him like cooking in the 21, the Copa like, when, who were the artists who were playing when
Marky Ramone
40s and 50s, Humphrey Bogart, obviously, the mob, you know, people would would walk in and eat dinner there. You'd name it the movie stars of the day. Because it was a very popular club at the time. And so was the 21. Club.
Ari Gold
What was that? What kind of artists did they have their
Marky Ramone
21 Club? Anybody that was famous? Anybody and the same thing with the cult, but you'd have like, you'd have X Nat King Cole, you'd have Sam Cooke. You'd have Tony Bennett, you'd have Sammy Davis, you'd have you'd have a Martin D. Martin, Jerry Lewis, you'd have you know, the light of day, you have like the temptations or let's see who else
Ari Gold
you think your stories about that have an influence on you. Get that you think your grandfather's story of him being in
Marky Ramone
his connection? Yeah. Well, he had on me was the sauce was the tomato sauce that I put together. I used to watch him as a little boy at my grandma's house. Cook for the family. Yeah, you come over there. Hello, Hello, grandpa, grandma, and we go there. And he'd be cooking because that was his specialty. You know. So the pastor saw us that he would make some times they would watch and make then I tried it. First it was too lumpy, too watery, too salty. Eventually, I got it. And we bottled it up and added that came a truck food truck that went around the city and then ended up in all the grocery stores, you know, the food markets, but the problem was that in Whole Foods, such as mark in the mountains, Brooklyn zone and Whole Foods, they wanted to know where it originated. So obviously See, you know, the plant wasn't here it was in Pennsylvania. So they didn't want it in the store because it wasn't made in Pennsylvania and it said Mokuba mountains Brooklyn zone. So I didn't care, you know, I mean, you know, then then after a while it got too, too overwhelming. So then I had to, you know, I had to say, what, what am I doing? I have too much in the place. So I didn't saw I didn't do the radio shows. So I just, I just let it go. But it was fun while it lasted.
Ari Gold
But so do you have? Do you have you make the sauce? Still? I assume?
Marky Ramone
Still? No, no?
Ari Gold
No, I mean, you make it at home. Yeah, at
Marky Ramone
home? I do. My wife helps. Yeah, well, even though I'm a better cook.
Ari Gold
I didn't say it. I well, so. I mean, there's, you know, I obviously there's a lot of people on here probably going to want to hear from our own stories. But I'm like, sort of fascinated by how you developed into, you know, the life before the room. And the fact that you played in, it was some metal band before. Word metal when dust was around.
Marky Ramone
Well, the week we started in 70. We recorded off our stones 70, sort of Black Sabbath. But England was ahead of America about six months with heavy metal. But in America, though, there was no metal bands. So we were three Simpson Brooklyn, we were still in high school. And that might have been three or four other heavy metal bands through. But we were part of that origin beginning so you had what did you really have in America, you could count it on your fingers. You had dust Mountain was kind of considered metal. You had blue chia, which was kind of metal, but it was more more or less like a hard rock band. So I mean, we we were definitely ahead of our times. But I we had to break up I had to finish school. My father told me you better and my guitarist went on to produce the first two kiss albums at 20 years old. And Kenny Aronson, bass player who I also grew up in Brooklyn, started playing with stories I started playing with as a sideman John Jett, Billy Idol, Bob Dylan. So I have three guys. So Brooklyn ended up being pretty successful in the music business at that time. I decided to just start hanging out cvgs after dusk broke up. So that's when I just started getting into the policy. When did when did it open? Yeah. 7475 Okay. To to, to music like punk rock, le crystal, Leona, let us play that they didn't want to play punk rock and other venues at the time because it was new. And to some people it was kind of like a little offensive with the leather jackets, the overall gangs. But at the time, this guy was big and soft rock was big. And you know, he goes on I didn't you know, I don't care. But a lot of like I said a lot of venues were reluctant to play our genre music. So there weren't that many places to play Max's Kansas City, which was another club in New York. And she
Ari Gold
had done a lot there in the late 60s. Right. And Maximus. Oh, yeah. There
Marky Ramone
were a lot of there were a lot of 60s they vans used to hang out there. I was too young. Where was Max's was in near 14th Street. 14th Street and Park Avenue. Okay. I I mean, that of the bands that that that hung out there. You had, you know, the dogs you had Jimi Hendrix Led Zeppelin. You had all these 60s bands that started in the 60s that would hang out there then eventually, of course, you'd have Andy Warhol. You have Jan County, and then you'd have David Bowie will read and all these other people from from England, and Alice Cooper would hang out there. So it was it was a combination of people from that era. And then the punk scene came in. And then you have the Ramones, you had television you know talking heads that Blondie and And then New York Dolls would be hanging out there too. So, you know, depending on what decade and era populated the
Ari Gold
was the Fillmore East still around by that point or had it closed.
Marky Ramone
So more closed, I think in 7071. When I was about 1314, I knew a Atia who work there. And he would, we would wait until the band's finished the soundtracks, and we would go up on the stage and use their equipment. Really? Yeah, so we did that. Was that?
Ari Gold
Well, you pretending to be roadies, if anyone looked at you like
Marky Ramone
he was an usher. And I guess he had some sway. And, you know, the band's went back to the hotel rooms. And I guess the role is one hour to look around the clock. And we were able to do that. And yeah, so more was still active. I think the 71 and
Ari Gold
Bill Graham,
Marky Ramone
that haven't made them yet. I know. Okay, it was a nice guy quiet.
Ari Gold
When? Do you know my mother died in the helicopter crash with him?
Marky Ramone
I didn't know that. Sorry. No,
Ari Gold
that was my childhood.
Marky Ramone
I don't know why they took off like that.
Ari Gold
Yeah, I'm actually my third feature film is documentary, which is about the accident. And it's about the my mother and this kind of psychology look, trying to analyze her psychology as to why such a smart and brilliant woman would get into a helicopter in a rainstorm. When she apparently at the whole concert that they were at before that. She was saying to everyone registered, they were at a Huey Lewis concert, which I still find shocking, but that's a whole other subject. But anyway, they were trying to convince pew Lewis to like, play some benefits. So they went and my mother was terrified. And she talked about the ride over being terrifying and, and, and so everyone in the band came out to the parking lot and said to my mom, like, you got you don't want to get that helicopter. You've been saying so for two hours, we'll drive you hot. And then Bill said something to my mom, and she got in. So I look at the question of, you know, fatal flaws and the people's illusion of invincibility which is I think what Bill had having survived the Holocaust, and dented stadium rock, I mean, incredible life and then my mom, sort of in the aura of that rock'n'roll energy. Somehow she couldn't say no to it. You know, almost like a groupie. I hate to say that about my mom. But you know,
Marky Ramone
well, did. She like being around bands and seeing how, how things worked. Thing is that though high tension wires around, and unfortunately, it just seemed like a very Where did they take off from?
Ari Gold
They took off from the Concord pavilion, which is the East Bay, San Francisco, and they were heading to Novato, which has a kind of like a small plane airport. And they were following highway 37, which is on the north part of the term Cisco Bay, along the marsh, and probably using the road for guidance, because the helicopter was not rated for instruments. So he didn't have radars using sight and couldn't see anything apparently that night.
Marky Ramone
So they had to make it that night to that show the next day to do what they had to do. Waited.
Ari Gold
This is on the way back from the show. They were just going home that's going on home and and, you know, it would have taken 25 minutes longer to draw up.
Marky Ramone
Yeah, I think that's what happens. That's what happens, you know,
Ari Gold
not to bring up Ukraine again, but I'm gonna bring up Ukraine again, briefly, you know, all the pain that these people have in the right now and I, you know, I've been making in this movie about my mom, and it's, you know, huge amount of work to work on a movie, right? You know, and definitely thinking about every family. You know, we're talking about 1000s and 1000s and 1000s of families of people who are dealing with the kind of loss that I know that my family dealt with, with you know, one death and you just think about a whole country that is having, you know, hundreds of 1000s of people or have someone close to them who have died there for nothing. It's just anyway, I was thinking about it while I was filming in Ukraine a couple days ago, just this that I'm making a whole movie about the Ricochet of one death and like all we're creating so much more pain In the world, anyway. Not a very Ramones like, part of the conversation. Fans can can handle it. Right? We can. It's good to like, what?
Marky Ramone
It's good to one form. Yeah. You know, you know if you have that opportunity to let people know what's really, really going on. Yeah. Because so much stuff out there that they just don't believe you know? Yeah. Anyway, let's get back to the music.
Ari Gold
Let's get back to music. You want to talk about Ramones. I mean, we can talk about Well, I
Marky Ramone
was at the bar. I just finished a tour with Richard helm avoids with a clash. And in England in October, September, October of 7719 77. And when we got back, which he didn't want to tour anymore, and Tommy Ramone was in the band for three, three and a half years, did three albums, but he didn't want to play anymore. He just wanted to produce. And he wanted to be able to smoke cigarettes and being told not to be smoked cigarettes. So he wanted to keep the sanity. Anyway, I was very happy that is producing the next style on that we've been doing road to ruin. And the first song I did was I wanted to be sedated with them at media Sound Studios. In 1978 springtime we recorded it, I got a tape of their rehearsal, other songs that I add a record and a live and alive, cassette, a live show on a cassette of the show with the album, which was 40 songs, 42 songs. And I had to learn all that on a drum pad with headphones on on a boombox in two weeks. So I was gone four to five hours a day, because I wanted to be in the touring, respectable, great, original band that started the whole thing. So I was happy to be asked, and to make it more official and legitimate. Tommy and Johnny Ramone asked me to join the band. So I went to a rehearsal. And we did three, four songs. And it worked out.
Ari Gold
I mean, I there's the way you got into that band is so peaceful, you know, the fact that you were invited by the drummer himself. And then he you know, he was like Danny said, I mean, that's that. That is definitely someone handing you have the baton, or the sticks. And then yeah, you got to play on actually, the second song that I learned on ukulele is I want to be sedated. So you know, there you go. three chords,
Marky Ramone
three chords simple little one note lead. And it ended up becoming a double platinum single
Ari Gold
Yeah, I
Marky Ramone
I didn't think it would in the beginning because of the lyrical content I don't think a lot of DJs at the time wanted to play songs. I wanted to be sedated or blitzkrieg bop you know, the the lyrical content is debatable whether it was negative or positive or it would make people think oh, maybe I want to be sedated today. But that was the whole idea that was fly a lot of people just can't handle the fact that they want to have to fly go through the rigors of of going through the metal detector and then having to get on the plane.
Ari Gold
That was the inspiration for it really,
Marky Ramone
that was you know, a joey wrote the saw and you know, it was his experiences of flying and then having to walk through the gate and then having to deal with the tickets that happen. You know, it could create a certain stress and anxiety. So, a lot of people get their guard up ah, before they get on the plane. They have a few drinks. So on the plane, they order a few drinks and next thing you look around or a lot of them is sleeping, which is probably the end game for being involved with something like that.
Ari Gold
Well, I think the reason I never knew I had anything to do with flying, but to me, it's the lyrically is so it's so punk because it's this like high energy song. Asking to be low,
Marky Ramone
so our mid tempo song, okay,
Ari Gold
but it's not like a super fast song, but it's super high energy and livery. It's You know, it's craving the opposite and that contrast of hearing that lyric and hearing that like power is is kind of funny. You know the funniness is actually what makes it charming. It doesn't it's not like death metal that might sound like it's actually asking you to sedate yourself. You know,
Marky Ramone
you notice the song was short, it had chorus, it had a bridge, it had verses. And the chorus is very memorable. And to me, that's what a song is about short and sweet, memorable chorus a cool intro and a cool ending. And that's that's as far as I'm concerned. There's not enough of that now. Well,
Ari Gold
there isn't enough of that now but I mean, that's interesting you say it because like when you know the dust was experimental in terms of its song craft right? And you know, metal in general is and, you know, have you completely become a punk weary anything longer than two minutes and 20 seconds seems like a ponderous epic or, or, you know, where's your where's your tastes right now?
Marky Ramone
Well, the thing is that, because I got the radio shows, I try to look for new stuff. But then I then I listen. And then I say the sounds like this. This was taken from that and everybody borrows and gives back. But a lot of it was very blatant. But that's why I like to go back. Because I like all kinds of genres of music. I like to go back to Little Richard Chuck Berry, Joey Loise. Bone deadly Everly Brothers. And those songs are like two minutes, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, then of course, the British invasion, the Beatles, The Oh, the kings and all these bands that hits for two minutes to 52 minutes, 15 seconds. But as time went on, you had the prog rock and you had bands that had five songs on one album, one song was probably eight minutes long, a lot of self indulgence, but a lot of people like that, you know, it's good, you know, it's their choice. But we didn't we just wanted to hear a great song that had a cool message and it quickly is a lot of people have short attention spans. So to play something short and sweet, we figured that would be enough. And as time went on, you know, we persevered and continue to stick to a formula. And that's when all the you know, the the gold albums came in the Hall of Fame and the Grammy and the the MTV bobblehead. So a lot of people started picking up on us and a lot of bands in the 90 early 90s started punk bands because the Ramones the classroom, the pistols, like Green Day rancid, and they cited us as an effluence. So a lot of those bands whose fans wanted to know who their influences were realized that was the Ramones, The Clash, The pistols, the Buzzcocks? In the New York Dolls, so through that, we've got a lot of more interests.
Ari Gold
And your influences. I mean, I know Beatles was a big, or at least that was your, like, birth moment, right? As a musician. Yeah, that right? Like a
Marky Ramone
lot of like a lot of other people I was asked to come from my mother to the mother to the living room with a TV was check this out and the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. After that, I threw away well, I didn't throw throw it away, gave away my toys. And I started putting together a drum set as a little boy banging on things, you know. So I started working when I was 1516 as a delivery boy for people in the area who needed prescription drugs. Because I did a lot of I did that. I delivered them a lot of code that they couldn't walk to the drugstore, so I had to deliver the drugs. You know, anyway, I started putting together with a cheapo drum set. And eventually I did I had it set and I played along the hits of the day. And then I started a band with a friend of mine with two friends of mine and went to the same school over it. And we formed Deus. And that was it and we got signed to the same company the lovin spoonful was on, you know, all these all these great artists, and we did two albums 12 And Alice Cooper a lot. And then after that, like I said I had to finish school Oh, and
Ari Gold
you know, that was that who said you had to finish school?
Marky Ramone
My parent my father? Yeah. I mean, you know, he keeps all for me to continue playing music, but you had to get that diploma on the wall.
Ari Gold
Was that before you audition for the dolls? Or was that that was
Marky Ramone
for addition for the dolls? No, yeah, it was before, a couple of years before because belly and first drama die again in 7172 and 81 of an overdose. And I was 18. Around that time. 1718. So dust during that time, we was we were still together. 72 is when we broke up.
Ari Gold
Okay. Do we talk? I mean, I'm curious. Also, people know that you were also in the Backstreet Boys, right?
Marky Ramone
Oh, Jack Wang, Cathy. Well, I know he weighing what was when at the time. And we he was very extreme. And a lot of clubs definitely didn't want us to play. But we would play Max's Kansas City and CBGBs and he took club. And then later on, two years later, I brought the tape to the guy who produced Deus, which was my guitar player, said there's nothing I can do with Wang he's too extreme, but his musics great singing was great. His writings great, but we were with main man. And main man loved us but wouldn't sign us.
Ari Gold
Because what's the excuse me because Wayne was too out there
Marky Ramone
yet to go out there. And eventually, the Backstreet Boys I left because I knew it wouldn't go any further. And that's when I joined which should help and avoid always and we did the blank generation album. And you know, then we toyed with the clash and toured locally. And that was it. I just wanted to continue to learn he didn't and that's how the Ramones came about.
Ari Gold
Yeah, so one door, one door closes another lot of doors. Yeah,
Marky Ramone
except for the bathroom and CBGBs
Ari Gold
How did you get along with klatch?
Marky Ramone
Great guys. I mean, we, after the show he would hang out in the hotel lobbies walk around London at night with one of the clashes. Guitar techs, we would climb fire escapes, go up on the rubes and then go to another roof walk around. Look Look at London at night on top of rooftops come back downstairs go to sleep get up seven in the morning to travel to the next show the next city because it was all of England. You know not not Europe, it was England. So there were there were there was there was Leeds though as London there was. Let's see what else. We've been playing Glasgow. So there was a place called Kent so that there were a lot of places to play. I can't let rattle them off or fan. But we must have did 20 something 2530 shows together. So that was a lot of fun.
Ari Gold
Yeah, i i It seems so fun to be able to do that. And I wonder how much for so many bands and a lot of musicians like the level of adrenaline and fun you get from that whether or not you're on drugs, makes it hard to then have a regular life. I mean, how much is that true for? You know, for you at that time? It seems like
Marky Ramone
I wasn't doing drugs. I was I was sampling the local breweries of the beers. I like to drink beer, occasionally have a few glasses of wine. And I enjoyed it. And it was because there was a camaraderie that evolved through that, you know, you have a few drains to get loose, you talk and you're talking about musical influences with the with the guys and the clash, and all of that, especially with Joe Strummer and top of the drama really good guy.
Ari Gold
Yeah. And he, by the way, wrote, I mean when the song that I you know, I was a kid when the first song I heard it was was laid in there. It was rock the Kasbah but topper hidden bits and so, I mean, he laid down all the tracks for that, I think other than the guitar one day in the studio, and then they Take them out of the band right after that was
Marky Ramone
it was a Trump it was it was basically a dance on company wanted the groups to start doing dance songs you know they wanted them to someone new wave. But the Ramones stuck to their guns. We did one song with Phil Spector. We did an album with Phil Spector. But the one song that came out of it was a foreign before song called baby I love you originally done by the run ads, and Phil thought it'd be a good idea to have one of his songs on the album. So we did it but at that point and 8283 a lot of bands. They ended up wanting to get into the dance 4444 On the floor scene.
Ari Gold
Yeah. And that's how blonde is harder glass came out to write that. Yeah, so Blondie had heard of glass the class had rock the Kasbah on said, No,
Marky Ramone
no way. Because you know, you do that, and then you go back to the original formula formula. A lot of people won't accept it. Because they'll call you a traitor or why did you do that? You should have stuck to your guns. But you know, I mean, once in a while people get this idea of let me try this. Let me try that. Let me try. You know, everyone's creative. So if they if Blondie wanted to do a dance, so more power to him. I you know, I love the blues. I love jazz. I love the British invasion. I like I like Motown music. So I'm not stuck on one genre, you know?
Ari Gold
But, so why would you then resist? You know, having a name? I can't imagine Ramones disco song, obviously that would that Bob,
Marky Ramone
I wasn't the only one in the band. Right? So I joined the band seven, eight. And their intention was to just just be very, very powerful, straight ahead for 4/16 notes, eighth notes. And that was the thing and now 2022 people thanked us for not changing, sticking to our guns. And I'm more proud of that than having a number one dance song.
Ari Gold
Yeah. By the way, I'm getting some questions. I'm just noticing. I always forget to check this. Out. Liguria. Someone's wondering about an event and lagree Are you playing in a place called Liguria? I don't know what that means.
Marky Ramone
Can you maybe look up on a map where that is? Is it?
Ari Gold
I'll do? I'll Google it. Someone tells me
Marky Ramone
I know I'm doing I know, I was asked to do something in Europe. And I said, you know, COVID is getting better. It's disappearing kind of some of its common back a little, I figured I'd wait. I really didn't want to tour anymore. I really wanted to stop. But my promoters said to me that a lot of this was brought up before COVID and that there was a lot of interest from local promoters there. So I said, alright, you know, let's let's try it, that COVID King. So now a lot of these promoters want me back the makeup, the show is that they promoted. And I understand that, you know, and I don't want want them to lose any money or any of their reputation as a as a as a as a cool venue to play or an outdoor festival. So I told them, I would do it that we do it in. I think it starts in the summer floor. And in the meantime, I just did Lollapalooza from Chile. I like four countries and South America.
Ari Gold
Yeah, you gotta was in South America. Yeah, did
Marky Ramone
Chile, sort of the Foo Fighters we played together. And then the next thing I knew, Taylor Hawkins, just just passed away died from, I guess, 10 different prescription drugs and one and one body, which really just can't handle it. So, you know, I don't want to saw so but I've been through it with my alcohol abuse that I had when I was in my late 20s, early 30s. You know, it all leads up to abusing your body. And then, you know,
Ari Gold
once you think about why are you a survivor I mean, what's So, what is it like? Or is there some will to not go down the road. Like I
Marky Ramone
said, I like to drink but but I stopped when I, I stopped the 35 years ago. And I continue to play on my own in the studio when I'm not with the band. I play for two hours, four times a week. I ride my bike an hour a day when you try to burn seven 800 calories. That's basically it. You know, send you gotta watch what you eat, too, you know? Thoughts? What's that?
Ari Gold
Only your thoughts all the time? Oh, boy,
Marky Ramone
I would eat it with potato chips, pretzels. And then I know that's not a good idea. So yeah, watch what I eat. Make sure you eat a lot of salads, vegetables, fruits, you know,
Ari Gold
where do you bike? Do you bite on a
Marky Ramone
bike, my, my place here in DUMBO, there's a park there. So I go there. And I go, you know, back and forth on the trail. And I have a rogue bike in my other room here that I go on. And I think it's tough. I tried to maintain a certain speed for like, on that for an hour and 10 minutes. And that's about 900 950 calories that
Ari Gold
I was just filming in Brazil doing a project and when I get off the ground that's all about street biking. And I was happy to know that you in addition to being a cyclist now that you are a bike messenger, right? Okay. That was one of your gigs.
Marky Ramone
I had to do it. After I went after Joliet said to me, Mark, you need help we want we want you to go away and straighten up and he was right. It was he to me a dee dee he was at a heroin problem. But obviously, he was the songwriter. And he was one of the guys that helped create the band. So I had a going you know, it was the best phone call I ever had. Because it made me realize that let me do the right thing. So I went to rehab twice, got straight. And then I got back in the band four years later. It took a while one of the jobs I did have through my psychiatrists at the rehab AB suggested was do something different, do something every day job, do something that will keep you physically active. Do something that a lot you can meet different kinds of people. So being a messenger was good because I met all different kinds of people. I was able to to ride eight to nine hours a day. Being a messenger, you'd have to get there at six in the morning. And you'll leave around five 530
Ari Gold
at night. And will you bring all over Manhattan or was it all over
Marky Ramone
Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, right. And then one day I got another job offer through a friend to put up wrought iron gates on Krakow houses. Because in the 80s Those things were things were they were big. So we had to I guess the city had to shut them down. So there I was with the selling torch and the goggle over the face, putting up gates to stop to stop those buildings from being the main source of crack. So I did that. And then I was asked to come back to the Ramones, Clem bar good friend of mine drummer blondie. Blondie and tried to do two shows with them. didn't cut it. Good and Blondie, but not a Ramones drama. So
Ari Gold
fight or what? What his touch was lighter than they needed or,
Marky Ramone
well, he couldn't do the the eighth notes that I do. And that Tommy did. But God and Blondie I'll never you know, I mean, you know, he tried and I I understood the situation you just can't adapt to something that you he just can't do. So he continued playing with Blondie, go, and I ended up getting the call and I went down and I gotten the band again. And I stayed with them for another nine years.
Ari Gold
Yeah, not something like 2000 shows right?
Marky Ramone
1700
Ari Gold
Okay. A lot of shows a lot. Why do you think what would happen if you joined blondie? Do you think there's something he can do that you can't?
Marky Ramone
Well On the basically is it's basically like a girl rock band. And eventually the dance stuff with the final floor that starts easy to play. But you would that, like I did with Richard Hal after dusk, two different styles. I'm not saying there are things that Clem does that I can do that I can't do, probably just things that I can't do. But then again, Clem can't do what I can do. Everyone has a style, everyone has a different style, so be a buddy. I don't like to compare, because we're all different. And one guy might be great as a jazz drummer, but you might not be good as a rock drummer. That might be a blues drama who's not great or good as a punk drama. So it all depends on the individual.
Ari Gold
Is there anyone in the you know, new crop of bands that you like or other other bands that you listen to now that are coming out right now?
Marky Ramone
Well, I there's a good band that a friend of mine insists that I listen to the interrupters you know, girl, lead singer, female lead singer, which is great. They've got and, and I still like a lot of us and now laws Fredrickson from rancid put out a solo album. And it's you know, he's doing some good things on his own. So there's a lot of bands that individuals of those groups that are coming out on their own. So I'm waiting to see what a lot of these band members are going to put out after this COVID situation because a lot of these musicians that time to develop what they wanted to do as individuals Yeah. COVID Six situation. So you know, if you look look a little and you give it time, and listen, there's some there's some stuff out there, that's okay.
Ari Gold
And you're going on tour, doing spoken word or some Magista toe
Marky Ramone
in Boston and Connecticut. Yeah, and Ireland is two weeks from now. And then I'm doing Long Island and Rhode Island. And then I might want to do a little more. And then the tourists thought. So you know that that's, I enjoy spoken word. Why? Because you're running an environment of like, say eight 900 capacity. You're close with the big shows I did just recently 30 40,000 people. And I did that with the amounts to the US festival, there was I think 100 and some 1000. That day we played at, you know, towards the middle of us set now when we walked on the towards the middle. So the audiences got bigger. So I'm very happy to know that I'm going to play a venue of eight 900 capacity. Because you're closer, you engage more, you have more of a one on one. A huge show. You're not really in cottony and there's no contact, right, except the mass of people, which was great. But I think every venue you play, you learn something of how to deal with the room, how to deal with the size. Plus what happened was during Lollapalooza in Chile, when I displayed that I didn't play for two and a half years. So you walk out on that stage in front of a multitude of people. It was very overwhelming, but like riding a bike, it comes back. So that's what I had to confront. After two and a half years of not playing. So that was a little unusual.
Ari Gold
Yeah, I can imagine like, alright, I can barely imagine but playing to, you know, 50,000 people or more it, it sounds terrifying in the sense that you can't see anyone you can't connect your way to way it's just this mass. But yes, so that everyone's looking at you. So
Marky Ramone
are they are you I mean, we have two eyeballs. So if you have 50,000 people as 100,000 eyeballs looking at you, which is great. I mean, we were very grateful for the fans that we have we've had and still have, but it's just a different environment. That could be slam dancing is always slammed in some Zoe's which I consider a contact sport. There's a lot of contact sports, it's football, soccer. There's so many things, but slam dancing to me is like a sport. You know, you're getting rid of all your angst but you're not really hurting anybody this banging until we charge it He might go home and have a few bruises.
Ari Gold
They're friendly. The first time I had a real like slam dancing was at the Cow Palace in San Francisco to Metallica. And I was like young I felt like it was younger than the other like metal fans and, and I went into the pit was a huge, huge pit we're talking about like one of those giant ones that's like two boys. And I got knocked over at one point. And you know, being my first like big metal show, I was scared. I was kind of scared of metal heads right? And as soon as I hit the ground, there were four beefy guys squatted stood with the arms out on either side to create a shield for me so I could stand up again he's for for strangers, like boom like it like white blood cells around like an attacked whenever they texted me one of them kind of helped me up and then immediately we're back in this back in the pit. It was really beautiful. And it made me like from then on I was like oh all the anger of metal you know it's like whatever I was young man obviously liked it but get rid of it. Immediately. I was like, Oh, this is all about love. This is baby music
Marky Ramone
that a metal heads that I met a nice guys. They really are, you know, a lot of the punk guys and met the nice guys but some aren't. You know, they're just very, they feel they got to put on this and when when they're when I'm near a mom, so I better act punk. You know, what do you mean, they got to put on the punk act.
Ari Gold
But what's the most ridiculous thing someone's done to you to? To prove that they're punk?
Marky Ramone
You're not Johnny rock? What? Rock? Yeah. Big. So you know we were at a we were at a situation in LA. And you know, he just started being very negative. Oh, you know from romance, Lauren, Tom calm, just a heavy metal reject. You know, the guy had too much that you couldn't handle is that his alcohol. And then he stopped and then I just said to him, Johnny, for less than four Richard Hal, your puppet master Malcolm McLaren. And the New York Dolls and Richard hell, you'd be selling fish and chips somewhere. You know. So you know, cut, cut your baby crap. You talk to talk and never walk the walk. I know, you want sensationalism at this moment? You know, I was gonna say it and learn how to handle the Ilica. But you know, I just said, This guy is too high. So I didn't continue and he started like coming near me. And I was hoping you would.
Ari Gold
Because you were sober. And you knew you would be on the clock. And
Marky Ramone
I? Yeah, I mean, you know, I kind of felt bad for the guy because obviously to me, when I saw I had a drinking problem. And so did I long time before that, and I understood. Maybe the alcohol was just doing the talk.
Ari Gold
Yeah, that's true. That's true. Have you seen him again since then?
Marky Ramone
No, I don't I don't I don't care to associate myself with the only guy like in the pistols is the drama and Glen Matlock where my blackmail Matlock wrote all the songs and he's a great guy and, and I always wish them luck. And we always run into each other. He's really good guy. You know,
Ari Gold
I'm glad you're able to dish out that story.
Marky Ramone
thought that that, you know, kind of been like a reasonable logical panel. But the guy interrupted everybody. He won't let anybody talk. And I was the only one up there doing talking with them. So I guess it was a Sex Pistols are a mom, you know, going head to head. But again, I just didn't want to continue because he was drunk.
Ari Gold
Yeah, yeah. Okay. In terms of like, pop punk. Well, how does it How does it feel when you hear the words pop and pumped together? And, you know, other than top? Yeah. Pop? Or pop and park? Yeah. I mean, can you look at your guy? No, I'm just asking you if it makes any sense to you musically?
Marky Ramone
Well, I mean, you know, what do you call pop to me type of songs that are memorable at choruses. Fun lyrics, and which, which is part of what the Romans did. Same thing with the Beatles pop today. It could be described differently then it was everything changes. That's life. But that's what I consider pop. Bands like come out with a song with like even the who I can see for miles that kings you really got me all day and all the night. You had the Beatles help. Sergeant Pepper was that pop? I think it's pop. Yeah. Yeah. You know? So depends on what era you find punk. And what backs up the term punk at that moment?
Ari Gold
Well then yeah what backs up for me you know a lot of what's called pop punk now is loud and they are playing fast. But there's something about the attitude. And maybe I'm a snob I don't know, there's something about the attitude of a lot of what's called pop punk, where it seems like there's sneering at like their dad's girlfriend or something. But they're not actually there's something about it that doesn't have a rawness even though it's loud and they're screaming. And I'm not going to name names necessarily, but like that kind of mute the music that's called pop punk that comes out that I'm sure a lot of these people cite you as an influence. I'm like, well, they're not listening well.
Marky Ramone
Well, you know, you can't, you know, to, to be like a band like the Ramones or the clash, or the dolls, it was a different time. Things were a lot tougher on Rafa and you know, the, the atmosphere of the cities are different. So you can put that towards your music. And plus it was analog the recordings it wasn't the digital, I feel a lot of punk pop or punk bands when they when they go digital. It takes away from the rawness and dirt. The punk ethos, Ethel's whatever you want to call it, and my opinion I think when a punk band I think a lot of that happened because the COVID How can one band be together if you don't be here you have a different state or you know what I mean? So they recorded on you know, the computer and everything and they downloaded this stuff, and that was their results. But there's nothing like a band in one room recording on analog and that should be the way punk my opinion should be recorded. But no, we have choices you have digital and you have analog. So each goes on
Ari Gold
I mean, I think that's true. I think the really the thing that I haven't heard anyone say before people talk about the fact that you know you guys were influenced by you weren't influenced by punk because punk didn't exist so you find all these other things by by pop by Beatles by the WHO by jazz by you know nascent metal and
Marky Ramone
well there were there were bands called Go garage rock, like the Stooges MC five if I guess you know that that was the term they used for bands like that. The Ramones solidified it yeah you know we we every song was a punk song not just wanted to the songs and and of course the speed that we played tenuously No talking 1234 and to each song so that that's how we thought punk should be and then vous punk bands picked up on that and they started you know, counting up to songs, they started playing fast getting leather jackets and yeah, you know, the whole deal we saw that influence, but But I understand about you know, the solidification in my opinion is solidification upon started and CBGBs
Ari Gold
and like, do you think it's possible to get that the energy I mean, because you had this you know, very small pressure cooker cooker environment of CBS to play in and all these bands come I mean, people who haven't been there this place was tiny. This you know, it's historic, but it's actually not.
Marky Ramone
Yeah, you walk in. There's the phone booth on the right the pinball machine and then it goes straight ahead and stage to the left downstairs what was the bathroom and toilets, but it was 250 300 people capacity comfortably to apply when you weren't squish. There were tables set up and chairs in case you wanted to have chili because they made chili there and that that was it.
Ari Gold
That was the whole thing. But that's never going to exist again. Right because punk last
Marky Ramone
thing I think a lot of bands have Have to go out more they have to start a new scene. They have to hang out together. And my opinion a lot of people have hooked on on their iPhones computers and they waste too much time and those things they should physically in three and a three dimensional way. Go out there and meet each other. Talk about music, create a new new club like CBG these that's really happening and noticed all over the world. Everyone that I've met who is a fan always asked me about CBDs I want to go here one day, but it doesn't exist anymore.
Ari Gold
Yeah, it was briefly like a fashion store for John Farber.
Marky Ramone
Yeah, John Barbados, great guy. Anyway, I mean, you know, the, the the internet, again, for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. A lot of people on it live in the past. I don't, I don't think that's a bad thing if it brings them great memories amongst each other. But you got to realize if you think too much of the past, there's hardly going to be a present and it's definitely not going to be in the future. So you got to you've got to live in the present in order to have your future content. But if you live too much in the past, it's gonna affect your present and future.
Ari Gold
Yeah, so I think I think all the bands that are citing citing the Ramones to create their own sound ideally, like they mash that up with something completely different and get into the pressure cooker situation with other people physically. I mean, it's hard to it's so hard to do the like, you know, there could be great Pong coming out of Argentina and maybe it combines with I don't know maybe an Argentinian on the on the thread can get and respond but a
Marky Ramone
lot of it's a lot
Ari Gold
with some national music or something from you know, that you heard at your grandmother's you know, country house.
Marky Ramone
But you know, there's a lot of POC, that that that is hybrid. They'll mix it with some metal, metal or mix it with punk hardcore will mix it again with punk and metal viceversa. So that's why I call it hybrids. But, but the punk that is the rap is a representation of that genre. It is basically the Ramones, The pistols, and I guess those are the two on the forefront.
Ari Gold
What about the anything in the California sound like? Dead Kennedys?
Marky Ramone
Well, yeah, I mean, they they're good. They're really, really good band. A lot of them started in 7778 76. Right? So a little home city, New York's was a year and a half ahead of them. So a lot of them picked up on the sound of New York and applied it to their sound. And what you have Yeah, Black Flag circle jokes. You have bad religion. Yeah, yeah. And in Los Angeles, you had the charms you have all these all these bands that played punk, with the lyrical, lyrical content pertaining to where they grew up? What was happening at the time when they were in their youth. So that that was good, because it's much different than New York.
Ari Gold
Yeah. Yeah. I'd like to, you know, hear some punk coming out of Ukraine now.
Marky Ramone
Going well, shall we? Well, yeah. If they have, if they still have the facilities to do it.
Ari Gold
Well, they, they, they do actually have friends going back to Kyiv. already. I mean, obviously, in the east, it's it's going to get worse. But hopefully the the cities that are getting some refugees coming back will will find a way to, you know, create music and create scenes. That's fine. I know there's some bands that are incorporating like Ukrainian folk melodies into their music. And I'd love to hear. I mean, in a way I actually Gogol bordello, did that Glocal Verdelho combined. And, and Ukrainian music and and, you know, Roma music and I think actually, that for me, that's one of the best examples of taking the energy of punk, not recycling it and trying to, you know, do a remote site, come up with something different But with the inspiration, energy, I think that's the key. Because some of the bands that I guess I'm very subtly dissing that are in the pop punk scene. Like, they got, they're wearing leather or they're, they're playing loud and, and they sound like brass to me that I'd like to beat on but like,
Marky Ramone
I mean, you know, I look at that there's a lot of crap. Yeah. You know, I mean, you know, but that's the way it goes. It's been like that since the beginning of rock.
Ari Gold
Yeah, that's true. That's true. Did you think when you join that you'd be still a Ramone decades later?
Marky Ramone
No, I thought after we retired in 96, you know, they asked me to change my last name. Now. My, my grandmother used to call me Maki, there was a cereal called maple, where the character in the commercial was mocking naipo. And as a little boy, and my mother used to make that for me. And then I sent away for it and I got the doll and it said Maki, Mako. So we were throwing around names. Larry Jimny, Bobby, Rocky, you know, all these weird names and when we stopped the market, you know, so that, that name stock. So after we retired, like I had to keep the name because for all for 15 years being in the band, that's what I was known as I wasn't going to start over with my real name again. Because the one that made sense more people know me as Mark and my mom. So yeah, I get I kept it and it helps because it attracts Ramones fans all over the world. Yeah. Come to the shows and I'm able to keep this music alive. Because I had like, I might tell you a few times the music's too good not to be played. So somebody's got to do it.
Ari Gold
Yeah. Yeah. Have you ever heard a cover of a Ramones song that is like wildly different in terms of like, I don't know country music cover or pop it
Marky Ramone
follow that emergency? Yeah,
Ari Gold
that was a superb I want to be sedated. We perfect.
Marky Ramone
There was a CD out while ago elevator Ramones music, which was elevated music of the Ramones. There's a jazz album out of Ramones music.
Ari Gold
And you Kibo did their own easy listening. You remember? Did you ever hear that? But But Devo made their own easy listening album of their own songs.
Marky Ramone
They made on the wrong we somebody made it of us. Well, how do you pass? We didn't have to do it some. I think it was called the Nutley brass. Okay, who compiled a bunch of songs and made it the elevated music. Then there was a jazz one. And then there's the country one. And then there's a lot of punk bands. Who did Ramones albums over again. And it was just a tribute.
Ari Gold
Right? It's probably really good training. It's like that. It's probably good training for them like the Gus Van Zandt, the filmmaker, he remade psycho shot for shot exactly the same as the Hitchcock movie of the strange, strangest experiment. But you know, it probably is a way of getting inside original artists that you admire. Yeah. You know, if you actually play the real thing, and do your best you learn from it. You know, your body, I would imagine. Yeah. I mean, sort of like when I played with you, even though it was only you know, one show and a couple songs like, I'll never forget it. I'll never forget playing those songs with you. It's incredible.
Marky Ramone
Thank you. That was That was fun. Yeah. I just wanted to thank you for your work and the Ukraine.
Ari Gold
Well, I hope you'll get to play there soon. And if you if you do want to tour again, I'm sure there are fans in Ukraine who want to I was asked
Marky Ramone
to come to Russia. Just recently, I said thank you, but not at this moment.
Ari Gold
Yeah. Yes. i Well, thank you so much for chatting. People watching you can hear lots of interviews with drummers from New York here too. We have Todd Sucherman. huge list of people and it'll be growing. We have it at Airdrie. dot com at hot sticks.fm is the audio version. And please, I guess check you out when you could do your your spoken word shows coming up.
Marky Ramone
I'll be I'll be in Long Island on April 28 Spoken road show. And in a town called cut chalk, and a Patchogue. And they wanted me to come there and talk and then I'm going to Rhode Island. And to do the spoken word there, and then also Europe. My tour and when is it in June? So, okay, well, you come by and have a good time.
Ari Gold
There's so many people in South America on this chat, and I think they're crying right now that you don't have a have a South American tour coming up again, tomorrow. Well,
Marky Ramone
I guess I the only place that in play was Brazil, because we didn't have time. Yeah, we didn't have the, you know, the we just agreed to do the four countries we did. And then come back home. You know that there's certain rules through the COVID tests and things, all this stuff. So we thought that four countries was enough. I mean, we I love Brazil, and eventually I will go back and hopefully do a whole tour of that country.
Ari Gold
Yeah. Well. All right. Thank you.
Marky Ramone
I'll speak to you again.
Ari Gold
You rock LA. I'll see you soon. Back in New York. Yes. Okay. Ciao. Ciao.
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